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taxize

ANALYTICS
Velocity0.0

Retrieve and resolve taxonomic names and hierarchies from many web sources in R

github.com/ropensci/taxize ↗

taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.

taxonomyapi-aggregationupstream-churndeprecationropensci
◆Current state
The most recent work is migration: 0.10.0 replaced the deprecated Global Names Resolver functions with GNA equivalents (`gna_verifier`, `gna_parse`), rewrote `scrapenames` for the new API, and updated its rredlist usage to match that package's own v4 rewrite. 0.10.1 then tuned `gna_verifier`'s batch size to 50. The older entries in the window show the same shape from a different angle: `tnrs()` made defunct because the service died, COL dropped over rate limiting, NatureServe reworked for a new API, and a package-wide parameter rename to `sci` / `com` / `id` / `sci_com` / `sci_id`.
◆Where it's heading
taxize's job is aggregating a dozen taxonomic databases, so most of its engineering is downstream of decisions it does not control — sources go away, endpoints change, rate limits appear. The visible trend is consolidation: fewer, better-maintained backends rather than broader coverage. Release cadence has thinned to roughly one a year, and the rredlist coupling means it now inherits that package's breaking changes too.
◆Prediction
Expect the next release to track another upstream source change rather than add new databases; the deprecated-parameter aliases from the 0.9.97 rename are also overdue for removal.

◆Recent moves

  1. 5mo ago

    taxize 0.10.1 lowers gna_verifier batch size

    Drops `gna_verifier`'s batch size to 50. A tuning fix on the GNA migration 0.10.0 delivered.

    View source ↗
  2. 1y ago

    taxize 0.10.0 migrates to GNA and the new rredlist API

    Swaps deprecated GNR functions for GNA equivalents, rewrites `scrapenames` for the new API, and follows rredlist's own v4 break. Three upstream migrations in one release — the clearest illustration of what taxize's maintenance actually consists of.

    View source ↗
  3. 5y ago

    taxize 0.9.99 retires tnrs(), paginates WORMS queries

    Makes `tnrs()` defunct after the service stayed down, and adds automatic pagination plus a `marine_only` passthrough for WORMS children and downstream queries. A source lost, another deepened.

    View source ↗
  4. 5y ago

    taxize 0.9.98 adds NCBI and zoological rank names

    Adds eight NCBI rank names to the reference table and a zoological rank table for WORMS, so downstream queries stop failing on unrecognised ranks. Data-table upkeep against moving taxonomies.

    View source ↗
  5. 6y ago

    taxize 0.9.97 standardises parameter names package-wide

    Standardises parameter names across the whole package to `sci`, `com`, `id`, `sci_com` and `sci_id`, with old names retained under warning. The largest self-directed change in the window — it makes a sprawling function surface learnable.

    View source ↗
  6. 6y ago

    taxize 0.9.96 updates NatureServe for its new API

    Updates the NatureServe interface for that service's new API and shortens its identifiers, plus fixes to `class2tree()` and `worms_downstream()`. Another source migration in a long series.

    View source ↗